Cleft vs VocalNote
Cleft
cleftnotes.comVocalNote
vocalnote.appSide by side
| Figure | Cleft | VocalNote |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $3.33/mo | $9.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 3 |
| Spec score · Voice Note Apps | 8.3 (#10) | 7.7 (#25) |
| Security | Cleft says notes are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and in transit with TLS 1.2 or higher, and cloud data is hosted in Ireland under a zero-access architecture. | The site says audio is encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 and at rest with AES-256, and that private user data is not used to train public AI models. |
| Support | Plus includes priority support, and the About page says every email is read personally by co-founders Jonathan or Justin. | VocalNote offers email support for technical and billing issues and lists an average response time of 24 hours. |
| What it does | Cleft captures spoken thoughts and turns them into structured notes with main points, actions, summaries, and transcripts. | VocalNote turns voice recordings, documents, images, YouTube videos, and web articles into structured notes, summaries, and drafts. |
Plans
In their own words
Cleft
Cleft is an iOS and macOS app that turns spoken thoughts into notes with main points, actions, summaries, and transcripts. Its built-in output styles are Structured, Structured Prose, and Clean Transcript; Plus users can also save custom styles. Cleft says it works offline and supports 99 languages, including switching languages mid-sentence. Transcription runs locally using Whisper, and temporary audio is deleted afterward unless Keep Audio is enabled. Optional cloud formatting sends transcript text, not audio, to OpenAI, with Groq as a backup. Cleft lists support for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. Its Basic plan includes recordings up to five minutes, on-device transcription, tags, search, and export. Plus raises the recording limit to 30 minutes and adds attachments, Notion and Zapier integrations, and Family Sharing for up to five. Plus costs $6.99 per month or $39.99 per year through the App Store, with automatic renewal unless canceled. Cleft says notes are encrypted at rest and in transit.